HAMPDEN, Feb. 1, 2023 - The beleaguered Municipal Review Committee is back to Square One, after its latest prospective operator to restart the waste-to-energy plant here failed to meet its financial obligations.
The MRC, which serves 115 towns, including all four on MDI, announced today the exclusivity agreement with Revere Capital Advisors ended Tuesday “without a definitive follow-on purchase agreement or timeline.
“As a result, the MRC is pursuing all recapitalization options to reopen the Municipal Waste Solutions (MWS) recycling and solid waste facility.”
MWS was created by MRC last year to purchase the Hampden plant for $1.5 million and take it out of receivership. Bondholders had invested $90 million before the plant operator ran out of money in May 2020.
Revere was to acquire the plant from MRC as a first step toward raising another $20 to $30 million to run the plant. That first step would have required about $2 million. Revere Tuesday also forfeited $400,000 in previous deposits to extend the exclusivity period twice.
In July 2022, the MRC entered into its first exclusive arrangement with the Revere-led group. A second extension was granted last fall.
“Given multiple delays in the closing date, the MRC has declined to extend exclusivity with Revere, which allows the MRC to solicit and contemplate additional offers of private investment in the facility,” said Michael Carroll, MRC Executive Director.
“While we are disappointed that Revere Capital Advisors, LLC was not able to close on the Hampden facility partnership during the exclusivity period, we welcome them to continue to work with us to invest in MWS.”
“MRC is striving to reopen the facility as quickly as possible and delays move us further from our end goal of processing and recycling the municipal solid waste of our 115 Maine member communities. To preserve the opportunity to restart the plant and meet our goal of getting waste back into the facility in 2023, the MRC needs to move forward on a clear path in the very near term. The expiration of the exclusivity period allows the MRC to pursue other options for reopening including private investors that have expressed interest in a partnership with the MRC.”
The MRC is planning multiple meetings this month to provide more information to its members and to solicit feedback. The first will be a virtual town hall session on February 7 at 2 pm.
One MRC board member said while the MRC is committed to find a way to restart the plant, it doesn’t have infinite resources and will run out of money at some point.
All four MDI towns were members of the MRC. They and others have cobbled together various ways to rid their trash, from incineration, to landfills and some recycling.
Bar Harbor produced record trash the last two years from record number of tourists.
Yet another reason to set a sustainable number of visitors for Bar Harbor and on MDI.